Julia Poe/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
The mural, on the side of the Historic Richter Vinegar Plant, was inspired by a black-and-white photo of a 32nd Infantry Division (Red Arrow Brigade) soldier, D.F. Hirsch of Milwaukee, a Specialist Fourth Class. His image was taken by a military photographer during training at Fort Lewis in Washington state in May 1962, preparing for a potential threat in Berlin.
The mural, on the side of the Historic Richter Vinegar Plant, was inspired by a black-and-white photo of a 32nd Infantry Division (Red Arrow Brigade) soldier, D.F. Hirsch of Milwaukee, a Specialist Fourth Class. His image was taken by a military photographer during training at Fort Lewis in Washington state in May 1962, preparing for a potential threat in Berlin.(Photo: Julia Poe/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisc, Julia Poe/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisc)Buy Photo

MANITOWOC - After nearly a lifetime of service in the military, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Ed Hansen made it his passion to honor Manitowoc’s part in history with a rededication of Red Arrow Park.

The rededication of the park at 10 a.m. Saturday will remind the community of the Red Arrow Division after which the park was named. Hansen said he felt it had been forgotten and wants to imbue the park with renewed meaning.

“This has really become my mission — this is a beautiful park and right on Lake Michigan and I think we need to make sure it stays that way,” Hansen said. “For us, this is not a job, it’s more of a love affair with the whole idea of the park and the rededication and remembering those who serve … and we’re open for any veteran from any service. We want to honor them, too.”

Blank bricks have been installed at the Memorial Brick Area at Manitowoc’s Red Arrow Park. A re-dedication of the park will be July 15.(Photo: Courtesy of Ed Hansen)

Hansen said July 18 will mark 100 years since the founding of the Red Arrow Division. The 32nd Infantry Division (Red Arrow Division) was formed from Army National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan. During combat in World War I, the division earned a reputation for fortitude and tenacity in piercing enemy lines. In World War II, the division logged 654 days in combat, more than any other United States Army division.

Hansen was born and raised in Manitowoc before he spent more than 32 years with the military. He returned to Manitowoc in 2010, and it wasn’t long before he noticed Red Arrow Park was little more than a rundown park and not the shining memorial to the Red Arrow Division it once was.

The park was dedicated in the 1950s, but the flags, flagpoles and signs had deteriorated since then. Hansen got to work with a few other like-minded people to restore the park.

“This is part of our history and it is forgotten,” Hansen said. “As a command sergeant major, one of your responsibilities is to tell the story, keep the traditions and all of those things. So, to have a park named Red Arrow Park and to have it like this just wasn’t acceptable.”

Since 2011, a new set of flagpoles has been installed at the park, which will be continuously lighted, and the canons on display were restored. Around the platform for the flagpoles, memorial bricks have been placed. The work was done by the recently incorporated Friends of Red Arrow group.

Silver Lake College President Chris Domes, left, gave Ed Hansen, director of the Manitowoc Sunrise Rotary and a Silver Lake College alumnus, center, a plaque recognizing the club’s 25th anniversary and in gratitude for its support of the college. Barry Bast, a founding member of the local rotary, also took part in the ceremony.(Photo: Courtesy of Suzanne Weiss)

In 2015, a mural was painted on the Historic Richter Vinegar Plant overlooking Red Arrow Park. The image is of a 32nd Infantry Division soldier, D.F. Hirsch, with a red arrow, symbolizing the division’s persistence and fortification in battle.

“This is really just the beginning. This other stuff is to get the park back to where maybe it should have been,” Hansen said.

The Friends of Red Arrow are selling memorial bricks and trees with plaques to offset the cost of a more extensive memorial they have planned for the future. The memorial will be created using Valders limestone and red granite. The group is also working toward finding another piece of military equipment to display in the park along with the canons.

Hansen said he would also like to install signs that share the history of the park and the Red Arrow Division.

Saturday’s ceremony will feature the Posting of the Colors and patriotic music from the Clipper City Cordmen, the 132nd band and Pete Mcginty on the bagpipes.

“A lot of people in the community forgot why it is 'Red Arrow' Park,” Hansen said. “We’re really fighting the battle to keep the bad element out of the park and reestablish the park for what it was dedicated to begin with.”

Hansen said he is aware that crime in and around the park has risen recently, but hopes that increased police patrols and the future installation of security cameras will discourage crime.